Typically, exterior non-lift and slide sliding doors or windows include active door panels that do not raise or lower, but have a fixed roller in place. These door or window panels have weather-stripping in contact with the bottom sill, top jamb, side jamb and interlock, which is where the active door or window panel meets with another active door or window panel or fixed door or fixed window panel. During operation, these door or window panels will have weather-stripping that will be in contact with the bottom sill and top jamb at all times.
When opening or closing the active panel of these types of doors and windows, a substantial amount of friction is caused from the weather-stripping of the top and bottom rails because the weather-stripping is in contact at all times with the bottom sill and top jamb in order to seal the panel. This friction creates difficulty in opening and closing a typical sliding door or window panel, which is even more apparent in a non-typical, oversized, thicker, taller, wider, heavier sliding door or window panel. In addition, this friction between the weather-stripping with the bottom sill and top jamb creates greater wear and tear on the bottom sill and top jamb as well as the weather-stripping, which greatly reduces the longevity of the weather-stripping as well as the door or window system as a whole.
As a result, most standard sliding doors or windows designed have the reputation of not sealing particularly well to keep water and outside atmosphere and elements from leaking through the door or window fixture. This problem with the sealing ability may result in water damage, outside atmosphere and elements infiltration as well as less efficient sealing of heating and cooling of living spaces resulting in related elevated energy costs for the homeowner.
In order to address the shortcomings of traditional sliding doors and windows discussed above, lift and slide doors and windows are known in the art. Unlike typical sliding doors or windows, lift and slide doors and windows eliminate the friction problem due to the weather-stripping being in constant making contact with the bottom sill and top jamb. Lift and slide doors and windows are required to have lift and slide hardware in place in order to function. Lift and slide doors and windows have active panels that actually rise and lower when an operator handle is rotated on an axis 180 degrees.
When the active panel is unlocked, the handle can then be rotated, the gear lock mechanism disengages with the multiple jamb strikes and then the panel is raised enough to separate the weather-stripping attached on the top and bottom rails from making contact on the top jamb and bottom sill. The raising of the panel is due to roller carriages typically having two wheels on each carriage (four total wheels) attached to the gear locking mechanism, which raise the panel when the operator door handle is rotated. This action eliminates the friction discussed above and, thus, decreases the difficulty in opening and closing a sliding door or sliding window as well as non-typical, oversized thicker, taller, wider, heavier sliding door or window panels. As a result, lift and slide doors and windows are superior in sealing, operation and efficiency.
When a lift and slide door or window panel is closed and then locked by rotating the handle back by 180 degrees, the gear lock mechanism engages with multiple strikes located on the side jamb and at the same time the panel is lowered down to rest on top of the bottom sill. A keyed lock cylinder can then be rotated to secure the panel from being operated from the outside. This action creates a superior positive seal to prevent water and outside atmosphere and elements from leaking or passing through the door or window fixture. As a result, a lift and slide door is more resistant against water infiltration, outside atmosphere and other elements infiltration with more efficient heating and cooling capability and reduced energy costs. In addition, a more secure opening is created due to the multiple locking points and keyed cylinder port integrated in the lift and slide gear lock mechanism, which locks the door or window panel to the multiple strikes attached to the jamb.
Generally, a lift and slide panel will have a lift and slide operating handle connected to a spindle, which is positioned at the opposite end connected to a hub on a lift and slide gear lock mechanism. The gear lock mechanism includes a long channel having multiple locking ports. The long channel is connected to a lead roller carriage assembly at the bottom of the gear lock mechanism channel. The lead roller carriage assembly is connected to a linkage rod or connecting rod. The linkage rod may be connected to a trailing roller carriage assembly.
With the lift and slide panel in the locked condition, the operating handle is attached to the face of a lock stile pointing straight up at the ceiling in a upward vertical condition parallel to the panel's vertical edge. The gear lock mechanism is attached to a lock stile and is locked or engaged onto the multiple strikes located on the jamb. The panel is in the lowered condition resting on the bottom sill resulting in substantial sealed condition with the bottom sill and top jamb, side jamb and interlock. A keyed lock cylinder after being engaged prevents opening the panel from the outside.
With the lift and slide panel in the unlocked condition, the keyed lock cylinder being disengaged, the operating door handle is attached to the face of the lock stile and is pointing straight down to the floor in a downward vertical condition parallel to the panel's vertical edge. The gear lock mechanism is attached to the lock stile is unlocked from or disengaged from the multiple strikes located on the side jamb. The panel is in a raised condition away from the bottom sill and top jamb enough so that the weather-stripping on the bottom rail of the panel is not in contact with the bottom sill and that the top rail weather-stripping is not in contact with the top jamb. The panel can then be moved along the track with less friction to create an opening, which allows for easier opening and closing of a panel.
Although lift and slide doors and windows alleviate a number of problems associated with traditional sliding doors and windows, they still suffer from certain limitations. For example, the lift and slide gear lock mechanisms associated with lift and slide doors and windows known in the art have fixed or permanent backsets. The fixed backsets are typically positioned at standard heights, such as 27.5 mm and 37.5 mm. As a result, if it is desired to position a backset at a different location, gear lock mechanisms with different backsets have to be purchased separately for door or for windows, which decreases efficiency with respect to time and expense. In addition, as noted above, the roller carriages are limited to two wheels (or four total wheels) for moving the lift and slide door, which is not ideal for displacement of the weight of the door and efficient operation of the lift and slide door.
Accordingly, there is a need for a variable gear lock mechanism with an adjustable configurable backset in various sizes, such as 27.5 mm, 37.5 mm and 50 mm for use with lift and slide doors and/or windows. Moreover, there is a need for an adjustable lock box that may be configured to operate with the gear lock mechanism in a door position and a window position. Finally, there is a need for roller carriages for use with the gear lock mechanism having more than four wheels to displace greater weight and operate more efficiently.